> I got this from another list and thought I would pass it on. > > Jerry Holland > > > This is an important message that we all should read. I have found my name > and my husband's name, plus our parent's names online and on World Family > Trees - I DIDN'T place them there, but someone did. I have become more > cautious about sharing anything past my grandparent's names because of this. > > Take care and save yourself some grief. > > Judy > > ************************************************************* > WELDING LINKS: PRIVACY AND THE WEB > by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <[email protected]> > Would you post personal information about your family -- like their birth > dates and who they married and when -- on the local grocery store's bulletin > board? You wouldn't? Then don't post it on your home page on the World Wide > Web > -- that's the world's bulletin board, says Carole Lane, author of "Naked in > Cyberspace: How to Find Personal Information Online" (Pemberton Press, 1997, > $29.95). > Don't make it easy for thieves to steal your identity by posting your Social > Security number, birthdate, address and mother's > maiden name on the Web either. Of course, you wouldn't do that. However, if > you want a real shocker take a look at the way some genealogists are > exposing > themselves and their relatives on their home pages. > While gathering information for a book lately, I've examined hundreds of > home > pages of genealogists, and they are a pretty > sight -- for cyber thieves, that is. In our eagerness to share our family > history material and utilize the power of the Internet > we have forgotten that not everyone is honest. > Genealogists are not even thinking of the possible consequences when they > take a GEDCOM from Cousin Clare (who got part of it from Cousin Billy, who > got part of it from Cousin Bonnie, etc.) and post it on their home page. Oh, > it's wonderful information for genealogists, right down to everyone's > grandchildren's names, their spouses' names, and their birth dates and > addresses. The fact that they have invaded the privacy of their relatives > has > not crossed their minds. > Christine Gaunt <[email protected]>, co-compiler of Genealogy Resources on > the > Internet > <http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cgaunt/gen_int1.html>, shared her concerns > and thoughts about this problem with me recently. > They include these suggestions: > -- You can post some information without posting what is an identifier. > Instead of saying that Jane DOE is your mother, say > that you are researching the Jane DOE line, and here is the information you > have on her, and where you've looked. Don't post > your (or living family members') birth dates and birthplaces. > -- Don't post Social Security numbers at all. Ditto for other identifying > numbers like driver's license numbers. > -- Decide for yourself what information you want to give to cousins you have > met online. > -- Use a program such as GedClean to remove information about living > individuals from your database before sending it to > someone else, or to a repository. That way, your birth date and birthplace > won't get into someone else's database. > -- Ask permission before you send GEDCOMs you've received on to someone > else. > That way, the originators can keep track of who has their data. > -- We may want to ask/tell our credit card companies that Mom's maiden name > is NOT a good password to use and to ask for a PIN or other password > instead. > An article entitled "Home-page Snoops," by Margaret Mannix appears on the > "U.S. News & World Report" magazine online edition at: > <http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980511/11mone.htm> > Check out the related links at this site, particularly those regarding > identity theft and advice from the Social Security > Administration on what to do if someone else uses your number. > >